4 ms·

You assume that most train rides offer a good view, and a view that the commuter would find novel. If I’m taking a commuter train every day , my view is not so

by dagmx 2y ago

You assume that most train rides offer a good view, and a view that the commuter would find novel. If I’m taking a commuter train every day , my view is not something great. Most of the time it’s rundown houses, tunnels or fences. This has been my experience in the UK, US and Canada. If I’m taking a more long distance train, you assume I’m sat on the side with a view. Ever taken a mountain train? One side just gets rocks wizzing by. You also assume they’re travelling in weather and a time of day that affords them a good view. Traveling at night? Traveling in misty weather? And all that aside, you assume they’d prefer to look at the same things you do.

prmoustache 2y ago
I guess that is based on experience as I have commuted in the swiss alps for years by train. There is even a tunnel when you are comming from Freiburg in direction of Lausanne/Geneva where you can count down the exact moment the tourists will let escape a collective woooaaaaah once the train exit the tunnel to a majestic view of Lake of Geneva with the alps and the Mont Blanc in the background. There are some views you never get tired of looking at, especially as seasons, weather, clouds and time of the day makes it an ever changing postcard. All in all in most of europe the trains usually offer nice views and I often find myself daydreaming about climbing that dirt trail on the left with my bike, riding my motorbike on that twisty road on the right side a few minutes later and what kind of life was it living 500 years ago in the old castle I can see here.
- dagmx 2y ago
  This feels like you’re judging others for not being fortunate enough to live in the same place you do. It’s a bit narcissistic of a viewpoint imho.
  - pests 2y ago
    At the same time, I feel you are being dismissive of the beauty around us every day. I used to bus the same route every day for months; and every day I would look out my window and just take it in. People watching, seeing buildings grow under construction, the changing of the trees. The sunset is always beautiful, imo. Why must we always escape?
    - dagmx 2y ago
      Because not everyone has the same view afforded to them at all times? Again, you are fortunate to have a view that you enjoy. That doesn’t extend to others, unless you believe that there are no other situations on the planet other than your own.
    - IncreasePosts 2y ago
      Aren't you escaping too? You could be alone with your thoughts, but instead you are piping inconsequential outside details into your brain.
      - aphantastic 2y ago
        Isn’t that escaping too? You could be engaged in the real world forming real connections but instead have self isolated. Probably the point is that there are many mindstates to be in and maybe we should just let folks do their thing.
  - FredPret 2y ago
    I think he’s just saying he has a nice train ride.
    - dagmx 2y ago
      No, he’s telling other people to also act like he does. It’s great he can enjoy it but it’s self centered to tell others to do the same.
      - kridsdale3 2y ago
        This is one of the most tone-deaf moments I have ever seen in an internet discussion. The guy lives in the closest thing we have to heaven on earth, a bountiful paradise of gorgeous beauty admired from afar the world over, and says to those of us living in crap-world that we should be grateful for what nature gives us.
- CPLX 2y ago
  I mean you literally live in Switzerland. It's the most photogenic place on the planet. Some of us live in places like Baltimore, or Staten Island.
  - prmoustache 2y ago
    I am not living there anymore and I still like to take the train and enjoy looking at the window. Sometimes it is just looking at people doing stuff. You might find that real life is boring, I find that most tv shows and movies are super predictable, following the very similar scenaristic mechanics and aren't more entertaining. Obviously some are also very nice, but these are the ones you would like to watch comfortably on your sofa or in a theater, not in a train or plane anyway.
- richardw 2y ago
  Maybe record that amazing commute so the less fortunate train travelers can play it on an Apple Vision Pro? Bit of a rubbish arrival surprise at work, but we can solve that next!
brailsafe 2y ago
Still, are those temporary inconveniences so dull that you can't read a book or something? Why cling to a desperate need for hyper stimulation when you could just relax with a newspaper or book. Oh jeez, it's misty out, and I forgot my ridiculous VR goggles, guess I'll just be sad :(
- dagmx 2y ago
  Because other people might enjoy things other than books or newspapers? Seriously, is everyone on here so narcissistic that they can’t imagine other people want other things?
  - brailsafe 2y ago
    My comment, in retrospect, came across needlessly aggro and dismissive, and I apologize for that; the downvotes were justified and I don't know what frame of mind I was in. Your comment struck me as a complaint about circumstances though rather than interest, to which I'd say have at it, do what you want to do with the tech you want to do it with; I just personally can't relate to the temporary lack of novelty during a commute seeming like a sensible reason for spending so much on this particular kind of device that doesn't really seem to serve another purpose. A steam deck, iPad pro, portable gaming system perhaps, all kinds of others, but the AVP seems like a bit out of scope somehow. I personally bring along a Nintendo DS, or a book, or whatever else, but I'd kind of think if my commute was so sufficiently long and dull that I'd want something more substantial, I'd just really start looking into a much bigger change. I've taken the train across the Canadian prairies, and my god is that dull, but I just chatted with people, did a bit on my laptop, looked out the window since there always is one, read, used my Gameboy. If I wanted to completely immerse myself in anything but the train experience, I'd just fly, it's cheaper anyway
    - dagmx 2y ago
      Out of curiosity, have you tried the Vision Pro ? I legitimately ask because it sounds like you think it isolates you somehow from the rest of the world around you. But you can still see the world and communicate with others. Why is that materially different than being engrossed in a handheld video game with headphones in? Also all your examples of other stuff you do to occupy the time, they are all temporary. Why do you think the Vision Pro user would use it the whole ride? I think this is down to the Boolean nature of “is this normalized or not” Because it’s not normalized, people don’t afford it the same benefit of the doubt of other things that they have normalized in their life.

by dagmx 2y ago

prmoustache 2y ago

I guess that is based on experience as I have commuted in the swiss alps for years by train. There is even a tunnel when you are comming from Freiburg in direction of Lausanne/Geneva where you can count down the exact moment the tourists will let escape a collective woooaaaaah once the train exit the tunnel to a majestic view of Lake of Geneva with the alps and the Mont Blanc in the background. There are some views you never get tired of looking at, especially as seasons, weather, clouds and time of the day makes it an ever changing postcard. All in all in most of europe the trains usually offer nice views and I often find myself daydreaming about climbing that dirt trail on the left with my bike, riding my motorbike on that twisty road on the right side a few minutes later and what kind of life was it living 500 years ago in the old castle I can see here.

dagmx 2y ago
This feels like you’re judging others for not being fortunate enough to live in the same place you do. It’s a bit narcissistic of a viewpoint imho.
- pests 2y ago
  At the same time, I feel you are being dismissive of the beauty around us every day. I used to bus the same route every day for months; and every day I would look out my window and just take it in. People watching, seeing buildings grow under construction, the changing of the trees. The sunset is always beautiful, imo. Why must we always escape?
  - dagmx 2y ago
    Because not everyone has the same view afforded to them at all times? Again, you are fortunate to have a view that you enjoy. That doesn’t extend to others, unless you believe that there are no other situations on the planet other than your own.
  - IncreasePosts 2y ago
    Aren't you escaping too? You could be alone with your thoughts, but instead you are piping inconsequential outside details into your brain.
    - aphantastic 2y ago
      Isn’t that escaping too? You could be engaged in the real world forming real connections but instead have self isolated. Probably the point is that there are many mindstates to be in and maybe we should just let folks do their thing.
- FredPret 2y ago
  I think he’s just saying he has a nice train ride.
  - dagmx 2y ago
    No, he’s telling other people to also act like he does. It’s great he can enjoy it but it’s self centered to tell others to do the same.
    - kridsdale3 2y ago
      This is one of the most tone-deaf moments I have ever seen in an internet discussion. The guy lives in the closest thing we have to heaven on earth, a bountiful paradise of gorgeous beauty admired from afar the world over, and says to those of us living in crap-world that we should be grateful for what nature gives us.
CPLX 2y ago
I mean you literally live in Switzerland. It's the most photogenic place on the planet. Some of us live in places like Baltimore, or Staten Island.
- prmoustache 2y ago
  I am not living there anymore and I still like to take the train and enjoy looking at the window. Sometimes it is just looking at people doing stuff. You might find that real life is boring, I find that most tv shows and movies are super predictable, following the very similar scenaristic mechanics and aren't more entertaining. Obviously some are also very nice, but these are the ones you would like to watch comfortably on your sofa or in a theater, not in a train or plane anyway.
richardw 2y ago
Maybe record that amazing commute so the less fortunate train travelers can play it on an Apple Vision Pro? Bit of a rubbish arrival surprise at work, but we can solve that next!

brailsafe 2y ago

Still, are those temporary inconveniences so dull that you can't read a book or something? Why cling to a desperate need for hyper stimulation when you could just relax with a newspaper or book. Oh jeez, it's misty out, and I forgot my ridiculous VR goggles, guess I'll just be sad :(

dagmx 2y ago
Because other people might enjoy things other than books or newspapers? Seriously, is everyone on here so narcissistic that they can’t imagine other people want other things?
- brailsafe 2y ago
  My comment, in retrospect, came across needlessly aggro and dismissive, and I apologize for that; the downvotes were justified and I don't know what frame of mind I was in. Your comment struck me as a complaint about circumstances though rather than interest, to which I'd say have at it, do what you want to do with the tech you want to do it with; I just personally can't relate to the temporary lack of novelty during a commute seeming like a sensible reason for spending so much on this particular kind of device that doesn't really seem to serve another purpose. A steam deck, iPad pro, portable gaming system perhaps, all kinds of others, but the AVP seems like a bit out of scope somehow. I personally bring along a Nintendo DS, or a book, or whatever else, but I'd kind of think if my commute was so sufficiently long and dull that I'd want something more substantial, I'd just really start looking into a much bigger change. I've taken the train across the Canadian prairies, and my god is that dull, but I just chatted with people, did a bit on my laptop, looked out the window since there always is one, read, used my Gameboy. If I wanted to completely immerse myself in anything but the train experience, I'd just fly, it's cheaper anyway
  - dagmx 2y ago
    Out of curiosity, have you tried the Vision Pro ? I legitimately ask because it sounds like you think it isolates you somehow from the rest of the world around you. But you can still see the world and communicate with others. Why is that materially different than being engrossed in a handheld video game with headphones in? Also all your examples of other stuff you do to occupy the time, they are all temporary. Why do you think the Vision Pro user would use it the whole ride? I think this is down to the Boolean nature of “is this normalized or not” Because it’s not normalized, people don’t afford it the same benefit of the doubt of other things that they have normalized in their life.